JICA infrastructure funding for agroforestry hits P949 million

MANILA, Philippines — The Japanese government has so far transferred nearly P1 billion worth of infrastructure in support of the country’s agroforestry nationwide.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan’s bilateral aid agency, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) have turned over some P949 million worth of agroforestry support facilities to farmers to date.

It has benefited more than 100 people’s organizations in various regions.

The latest is the P185-million agroforestry infrastructure composed of bridges, roads, and irrigation facilities provided to the Cordilleras, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Western Visayas.

The infrastructure support forms part of the Forestland Management Project (FMP) that seeks to help the Philippines conserve its forest resources while ensuring sustainable livelihood and forest management in upland communities.

As an official development assistance, FMP has been helping rehabilitate more than 71,300 hectares of forest resources in the country’s watershed areas.

This is done through forest and agroforestry plantation establishment, protection and maintenance activities, infrastructure support, as well as capacity building of people’s organizations and farmers.

“Supporting farmers is a good start in ensuring sustainable management of forest resources. These will help them access basic services and support their enterprise development and agribusiness efforts,” JICA Philippines senior representative Yo Ebisawa said.

The completed agroforestry facilities will benefit various communities in Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Iloilo, and Ifugao.

“The 149 enterprises developed under the project will also help boost the earnings of farmers and communities and encourage participatory forest management and conservation,” Ebisawa said.

The DENR recently started the Save Our Watershed campaign to help sustain the gains from the JICA-DENR forest management initiative by involving more stakeholders in the local government and civil society towards conserving Philippine watersheds.